SRINAGAR : Traffic on the highway, connecting the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, was restored partially for one-way traffic only and vehicles will ply from Jammu to Srinagar today. However, hundreds of trucks and other heavy vehicles, including oil tankers, remained stranded on the highway for the past more than a week.
One-way traffic was allowed yesterday afternoon on the highway after remained closed due to landslides for six consecutive days.
However, only stranded light vehicles were allowed to move from Jammu to Srinagar. There are also large number of light vehicles on the highway which are being cleared today, a traffic police official said.
There were fresh landslides on the highway at several places between Ramban and Ramsu which have been cleared, he said, adding that fresh light vehicles from Jammu to Srinagar will be allowed from 1200 hrs from Nagrota.
However, no vehicle will be allowed from Srinagar to Jammu, he said. Thousands of passengers, including woman and children, who had left Jammu on March 12 morning after the highway was opened briefly, were stranded at different places on the highway, particularly at Ramban, Ramsu and Batote.
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), responsible for the maintenance of the highway and National High Authority of India (NHAI) are working round the clock to put through the highway, the only road linking the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.
However, traffic police official said that normal two-way traffic on the highway will be resumed only after receiving green signal from BRO and traffic police officials posted at different places.
Meanwhile, hundreds of vehicles, particularly empty trucks and oil tankers, have been stopped at Qazigund and other places on this side of the tunnel due to closure of the highway.
Truckers stranded for the past more than a week alleged that besides financial loss, they are facing acute shortage of essentials, particularly rice and vegetables.
Similarly, hundreds of Kashmir-bound heavy vehicles, including trucks carrying essentials, are also stranded at different at Udhampur, Batote, Jammu and Nagrota for the past more than a week.
This has resulted in acute shortage of essentials, including vegetables, meat, chicken. Traffic on the highway remained disrupted frequently since first major snowfall on January 6.
However, despite putting all out efforts by BRO, only one-way traffic was restored on the highway.
(AGENCIES)
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